Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Waving at Planets (Saturn and Mercury) in the Rain.

Waving at Mercury for the MESSENGER photo on Friday night

Waving at Saturn just now (Saturday morning) for the Cassini photo.

Despite the cold, wind and the rain I managed to get up this morning to wave at Saturn. I had a good chat with Ashley Walsh on ABC local radio about why it's a good idea to wave at the ground this morning, as Saturn was well below the horizon in Australia when Cassini snapped our picture. The interview was accompanied by the hammering of hail. Then at the alloted hour I donned raincoat and trudged out for my wave.

At least the hail had stopped. I had a few minutes of fellowship with folks worldwide who were also waving. Then I raced back inside to stop being blown away by the wind.

Things were slightly easier last night when we waved at Mercury (also below the horizon), we just had to wait for a gap in the rain.